Sam Haines qualifies for state meet for Wildcats

The El Dorado Wildcats Cross Country teams competed in the Regional meet at Lake Afton near Goddard.

Josh Prim

The El Dorado Wildcats Cross Country teams competed in the Regional meet at Lake Afton near Goddard.

The Wildcats were not able to field a full girls team, so the Lady Wildcats did not have the opportunity to qualify for state as a team, only individually.

Faith Hadley was the Wildcats top finisher in 21st, just outside state qualification.

The El Dorado boys team finished 5th, an improvement for the Wildcats as a whole who finished 9th at last year’s regional.

“Although this year we were at a different course with different competition, I feel like we’ve made improvements. I feel like our boys competed for their places the entire race, especially the last 800 meters. I hope we can build off this finish and run more in the offseason, with an eye on an even better finish next year,” said El Dorado head coach David Herrs.

Sam Haines qualified as an individual. He finished 13th, and he was one of the top 5 finishers from a non-automatically qualifying team.

“Sam is a senior and he has worked hard for us. So it is nice to see him get a chance to run at the state meet. I am happy for him,” said Herrs.